


Martyrdom

by Chooboozle, Emono



Series: Ghost AU [1]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1920s, Angst and Feels, Ghost Sex, Ghosts, Homophobic Language, Infidelity, Insidious-esque, Light Domestic Violence, Lingerie, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Romanticism, Roughness, Shameless Smut, The Further, martyr!Dan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-26
Updated: 2015-10-31
Packaged: 2018-04-06 07:14:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4212744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chooboozle/pseuds/Chooboozle, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emono/pseuds/Emono
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan and Adam met once in England, and were pen pals ever since. Through a stroke of romantic and financial luck, Dan immigrates to the states and moves in with his lover. All is domestic bliss, until little things start going wrong in the house that causes friction between them. Adam grows more frustrated, and starts wanting other things. Dan only wants Adam, forever and always, and he won't be removed from the greatest love he's ever known. Even when he steps out out on him, Dan doesn't believe there's another soul out there that he could love even nearly as much. So he waits, and he loves, and he stays, and he breaks until he believes all he has in the world is the memory of his love and an imaginary friend.</p><p>That imaginary friend is Ryan, a specter who has waited twenty years for such a beautiful boy to fall into his lap. And he will have him completely, one way or another.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**This is a prequel to[this fic](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4200750). Dan's backstory. We are really happy to share this with you, we feel like it came out super well and is a good blend of angst and horror and romanticism. All comments are greedily devoured!**

 

* * *

 

  
~*~

_ The martyr cannot be dishonored. Every lash inflicted is a tongue of fame; every prison a more illustrious abode._

**_-Ralph Waldo Emerson_ **

  
~*~

 

 _My love,_  


_It’s been raining for three straight days now. I miss the sun as much as I miss your adoring face here in my bed. Those hands on my hips as you sup from my lips. I open for you like a flower, always. And without you I am closed. Not wilting, but yearning for your rays. I’ve lost track of the days since I’ve truly felt your touch. There is no other who can measure up in my eyes. You are all I see with the gaze of my heart. The girls here are beautiful, ripe like low hanging fruit, and the lads are strapping, but none of them can hold a candle to you, my handsome love. My bed is empty without you, my arms ache to be wrapped around you, and every breath I take is in want of your scent. I took a second job at the local pub to save up to come see you in the states. A passport is easy to obtain, I’ve found. My cousins have even talked about making me legal if I want. Mum says I’m young, and I should see the word a bit. I hope the club is going well, and your music is smooth as silk and comes easy._  


_Love always, Your Dan_

 

o0o   

 

 _Sweet Dan,_  


_Don’t let the rain damper your spirits. I have the best news. The club is doing so well and I’ve made a healthy pile of dough here. I want you to come over to the states with me, sweetheart. Get that passport, quit those jobs, and come live with me. I’ll get you all set up, nice and easy, and you’ll never want for anything. Let me serenade you to sleep every night. I’ll never let your bed go cold again, my London rose. Come home to me. Tell me it’s something you want?_  


_-AK_

 

o0o

 

_My darling!_

 

_Yes. A hundred times, and a hundred more. Yes. My heart is ablaze, my stomach in knots, and my mind is absolutely in a whirl. I’ll come to you as soon as I can. I’ll get my passport and pack my things. I’ll call you once everything has been arranged. I would call you now instead of a slow letter, but I’m an absolute mess to listen to. I’ve never been so happy or excited in my life. I’ll call you before this arrives, I know it, but my God it’s good to write down._

 

_Love always, and **soon** ,  
Dan_

 

o0o0o0o

 

Dan stepped off the plane and within minutes he was in Adam’s arms. They couldn’t be too open about it but the hug was satisfying enough. From there he was swept into the heart of New York, to Brooklyn, and into a Brownstone. It was picturesque, three floors, and he fell in love all over again. His life, his future, was laid into this house and they christened every room the first night. They laid in bed in the master room at the end of it, curtains closed to the rising sun, and whispered about their bright future.

 

As much as Dan loved the Brownstone, it was sparse, only purchased a few weeks ago. Given a fat wad of cash, Dan was allowed to buy whatever he wanted to spruce up the place. He got stylish but tasteful furniture, the softest couch he could find for a good price, some nice wallpaper to put in the rooms that had almost nothing but plaster. He bought the most realistic flowers he could find to set up on the main tables and fine pieces of music-themed art to soften up the sharp edges and dark wood. He got a radio for the kitchen and two record players, one small one for the bedroom and a long, mahogany one for the living room along with a nice TV set.

 

Dan found himself falling easily into the “wife” roll, only taking a close by server position to fill in his spare time (no matter how much his lover protested. Adam had a jazz band of his own, they often practiced in the attic where the acoustics were the best, and a club to run. He co-owned it with a neatly trimmed man named Sean and the two were surprisingly good friends despite the sticky mess of business. Dan let his love follow his heart and he took up keeping the house clean, scrubbing and cooking dinner every night.

 

There had never lived a more grateful man than Adam Kovic. He’d come home slightly drunk with a sore throat and aching fingers and sweep Dan up into grand hugs. He’d peck grateful kisses on the Brit’s mouth and call him the perfect wife, the best little boy anyone could ask for.

 

“A good lad,” Adam would tease, brushing their noses.

 

And they were happy.

 

But someone in the house was not.

 

o0o0o0o

 

It started with such little things. The house creaking, things moved here and there in frustratingly different places. A ripped curtain, pens dropping too often, guitar strings snapping and stinging Adam’s fingers, and sometimes things just up and disappearing. Little things that you could write off if they weren’t all strung together so closely. Dan did his best to make the house feel like a home but it was hard when he’d try to make a roast and the oven seemed to like to burn everything he didn’t specifically sit there and babysit. He couldn’t walk away from it or there’d be nothing to serve Adam when he got home.

 

Dan loved the house so he tried his best to work with it and its quirks.

 

o0o0o0o

 

“Damn it all,” Adam cursed softly as he tried to wind his watch for the third time. It was his grandfather’s pocket watch, a shined silver and engraved. One of his most important possessions, something he kept with him every day, and was now frozen in time. He shook it beside his ear and it sounded like something had come loose.

 

“Dan!” he barked out sharply, waiting impatiently until the Brit descended the stairs. From the smudges on his hands and cheeks, it looked like Dan had been dusting, but at this moment he couldn’t summon up even a drop of gratefulness. Instead he held up the watch with a firm scowl. “Did you clean this?”

 

“Only like you showed me,” Dan promised with a slight furrow to his brow. “I know it’s important to you, so I just used a little bit of that oil and wound it three times.”

 

“This was my father’s watch,” Adam hissed. “My father’s _father’s_ watch. If I can’t trust you with this, then how can I trust you at all?”

 

Dan gaped briefly. “Adam, I didn’t hurt it. I haven’t touched it since the weekend. Maybe you bumped it against something at the club.”

 

“Oh, so now it’s _my_ fault?” the older man snapped.

 

“Well, no, I-”

 

“Just go make yourself useful.”

 

Dan’s shoulders slumped before he made his way back upstairs to get to the grime in the spare bedrooms. He paused halfway there. “Adam?” His lover wouldn’t look at him, too wrapped up in staring at his unresponsive watch. “I’m sorry. If I broke it, I didn’t mean to.”

 

“I just...don’t want to look at you right now.”

 

Adam turned his back to him and he ran the rest of the way to put some distance between them before the other saw the way he teared up.

 

o0o0o0o

 

The Brownstone got suspiciously quiet at night. The hum of the brand new air conditioning unit hummed in the hallway window on the second floor, right outside the master bedroom. The ceiling fan whirred, the noise from the street tried to creep in past the window panes, but it was a pleasant undertone.

  
Adam was sprawled out on his back, one arm under his head and the other wrapped around Dan. The Brit was tucked into his side and half curled around him, cheek resting against the older man’s chest. Bare skin was pressed close to warm them both, the pleasant buzz of their earlier romp keeping them a nice, smooth sleep.

 

Goosebumps broke out over Adam’s collarbone and Dan’s back. The Brit’s arm moved as if held and he rolled onto his back, away from his lover.

 

Adam’s hair moved, head crushing the pillow as what felt like a palm laid hard on his forehead. The man gasped as his dreams were flooded with the sinful thoughts of pale, curvy hourglass figures and blood red lips that felt like silk against him. Lacquered nails and long, lovely lashes that batted over powder blue eyes. The swell of full breasts against him, smooth thighs straddling him and grinding wet folds against his cock while high pitched moans filled his ears.

 

While the musician groaned and shifted restless against the bed with a pained looked scrunching up his face, Dan was sighing in bliss. He couldn’t register it but gentle hands were rubbing over his chest and down his waist, petting through his hair and down his legs in smooth glides. His back arched up off the mattress and his mouth fell open, an icy tongue dipping inside to slide across his own. He shivered, still fast asleep as he rose up further from the bed, head falling back to show off his throat, only his hands and feet touching. The sheet fell and was drawn taut like that, exposed, fondled by careful hands until every inch of him had been touched.

 

By the end of it, Dan’s breath was visible in the air, his heat sapped.

 

The dream he had was not of beautiful women surrounding him but one man. Tan and broad shouldered with a sweep of golden hair that fit between his fingers. Tucked between his thighs and sucking him down like there was nothing more he ever wanted.

 

Then he looked up, and Dan was lost. His body was eased back down onto the bedding and the presence left, taking with it the chill of the night.

 

o0o

 

Dan laid awake in bed for quite some time the next morning. His eyes had fluttered open at the first rays of sunlight and he’d spent the first hour of the day simply watching his lover sleep. The Brit curled up on his side and watched Adam be so completely at rest, breathing deep and truly at peace. It was such a rare state. Dan’s cheeks were a blushing apple red from the warmth of their bed and the simmer of his loving heart, of how much it ached for the man in front of him. He counted his blessings. How lucky he was to have such a handsome lover, one so strong to pick him up and fuck him against the wall or to be wrapped up in when he didn’t feel well. _What have I done to deserve such a perfect person?_

 

Dan briefly chewed his lip and remembered his dreams. Diamond-cut blue eyes, a gaze that seared straight through him. He felt like he wore a mark of some sort from his dream paramour. His true lover’s eyes were like a swirl of honey and whiskey but those cerulean ones stuck to his ribs. _What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Just a tiny little dream._

 

Adam cleared his throat and scrunched up his nose before he opened his eyes and saw the Brit watching him with half lidded eyes. “Doing that creepy thing again, doll.”

 

“Sorry,” Dan apologized with a smile, wiggling closer to brush their noses.

 

Adam grabbed at his waist to pull him into a kiss but frowned at the distinct lack of curve there. Dan was smiling as brightly at him as he ever had but he could suddenly see how small and pink his mouth was, nothing like the plump red that had haunted his dreams. He frowned and looked over the Brit, the haze of sleep still coating his mind as he registered short dark hair and plain, brown eyes.

 

He’d always thought Dan handsome, but he wasn’t… _exquisite._  

  
“Is there anything special you want for breakfast?” Dan purred, hand already creeping under the covers to paw between his lover’s thighs. “Maybe a quick one before I make...oh.”

 

He drew back when he felt how completely soft Adam was. It was strange, usually he was hard and ready to go once they snuggled close in the morning. Sometimes Dan would suck him off or they’d rut a bit, if it was a lazy weekday they’d fuck until lunchtime. His heart felt like it had been stung. He felt his own eagerness fading.

 

Dan put a hand to cover his mouth. “Sorry, love, is it my breath? I drank a little too much of that dark whiskey before we fell into bed.”

 

Adam blinked at him as if in a daze. “No, sorry, I’m just...I’m real tired, doll.” He leaned forward and pecked the Brit’s cheek. “Why don’t you go make us up something real nice? I’ll be down in a minute, just need a shower to clear my head.”

 

Dan nodded and happily swallowed down the excuse, clinging onto the man’s hand far too long before he rolled out of bed and got dressed in just some shorts and an old open-necked shirt. He hurried off and soon the smell of bacon started to fill the room.

 

Adam buried his face in the pillow and tried to figure out what suddenly felt wrong.

 

o0o

 

Downstairs, Dan laid fatty bacon in a hot pan before going back to his bowl of cracked eggs, whisking them to a froth before adding salt and pepper. He hummed and poured them into a deep skillet before throwing in the bits of onions and mushrooms he’d already had chopped up and covered in the fridge just for this. He let the egg mixture sit and slowly cook as he moved around the bacon, watching it carefully before flipping it. This kind cooked fast and the burner was always a little hotter no matter how carefully he set it.

 

Hands laid on his hips and he jumped, a smile breaking out over his face.

 

“Love,” Dan hummed as lips grazed his throat. “Bacon’s already ready the way you like. Do you want to set the…?”

 

He turned around but Adam wasn’t there. No one was there. He stood alone in the kitchen with the faint muscle memory of hands upon him. Dan frowned deeply before his heart dropped into his stomach. He’d reached a new low of pathetic. _Of course he’s not in here. He wouldn’t touch a pan if he were starving. And he surely doesn’t want to watch me do it. I’m so bloody stupid_.

 

Dan turned back to the stove and pointedly threw himself into making breakfast, suppressing the pangs of hurt that throbbed between his lungs and down into his gut.

 

He was so desperate for affection he was imagining things, and he hated himself for it.

 

o0o0o0o

 

“I didn’t do it! I would have surely shut it!”

 

“Dan, that was twenty dollars’ worth of food. You can’t be this careless! The club’s doing well but we can’t afford to do this.”

 

Dan clenched his jaw and glared at the fridge. Adam had come home to the Brit napping and the fridge door wide open, the food inside starting to rot from the heat of the house. They were careful with the AC during the day (since it was an arm and a leg to keep on for just a night) and it had ruined a lot of their groceries.

 

“I _know_ I shut it.”

 

Adam crossed his arms over his chest and gave him a long, hard glare that whittled at his resolve. “I’m disappointed.”

 

Dan sputtered. “What?”

 

“You should own up to your mistakes.”

 

Indignant rage bubbled up in Dan’s throat and he had to walk away before bitterness spewed over their nice, neat, scandalous little relationship. “Roommates” their friends called them.

 

Dan was truly starting to feel like a disgusting, troublesome secret.

 

o0o0o0o

 

Saturday night were there most important nights at the club. Those days, Dan walked on eggshells to make sure Adam had the easiest day possible. The musician spent the early evening getting ready, prepping himself mentally and physically for the long night ahead. It was important he had everything he needed right there in the bathroom in front of the large mirror they’d mounted.

 

And it came to a head on the Saturday that no less than three New Orleans bands were flying up to do a huge gig at the club. Adam had been a nervous ball of energy for days leading up to the big night and Dan could hardly get a meal in him after Thursday night. The musician had spent about an hour in the bathroom before Dan heard a thunderous roar. It was feral sounding and he bounded up the stairs with worry churning sourly in his gut.

 

“What’s wrong?” he asked breathlessly as he skidded to a stop in front of the bathroom.

 

Adam turned his head to look at him and him properly and the Brit immediately wished he hadn’t. His lover’s eyes were soaked in rage, teeth flashing. “You think this is a game?”

 

“W-What?”

 

“Why would you do this?” Adam demanded as he smacked his hand on the open drawer of the sink. What were once an immaculate display of combs and brushes was a pile of broken sprongs and snapped plastic spines. Five combs - absolutely ruined. “Is this some kind of dame-trick to get me to pay more attention to you?”

 

Dan’s quickly shook his head, panic in his dark eyes.

 

“You punishing me for something?” Adam slammed the drawer shut and the younger man jumped. “Because if you are, it better be something damn good to keep you from the ass whooping I’m about to lay on you, boy.”

 

Dan backed up until he smacked into the wall. “Adam, love, I wouldn’t do this.”

 

“Bullshit,” Adam shot back. “You’ve been walking around this house moping like a beaten housewife and I’m about to give you the shiner to back up that claim.”

 

Dan wasn’t a small man. Young, built with muscle, and could carry himself in a fight. But in that moment he knew he’d never raise a hand to Adam, no matter what.

 

“Out.”

 

“Adam, please.”

 

The man’s lip drew back in an ugly sneer. “I don’t care where you go, but I can’t even fucking look at you right now.”

 

Dan wanted to protest again but something in the other’s face told him to run. He hurried back downstairs for his cap, coat, and wallet before dashing out of the house. He craved to explain himself but he was baffled beyond reason. He’d double-checked that drawer last night just for this reason. How all those combs could have broken...maybe one of them had slept walked and mussed about, nerves getting to Kovic and making him act out.

 

He knew one thing - Adam didn’t give a flying rat’s ass about excuses right now.

 

o0o

 

Dan hid out at a nearby bar and splashed beer down his throat until he was cut off. Even then he waited until it was late enough that he would have no chance to run into Adam on his way out. The night was muggy and he stumbled home, sighing gratefully when his key still fit in the lock. He wasn’t sure what he expected but he’d never seen Adam so angry before, and rightfully so.

 

“Bloody combs,” Dan muttered as he kicked the door shut behind him. He managed to put his coat and hat on the wrack without knocking the whole thing over but his shoes proved difficult. He gave up on the intricate lacings and staggered over to the couch. “Come ‘ere, sofa, I fucking love you.”

 

Dan laughed at how thick his own accent was, how silly he sounded in comparison to the clean cut everyone sounded in the city. The accents he heard the neighborhood were a bit brutish but he didn’t expect a lot with how rough some of the blocks were. He groaned in relief and fell over the arm of the couch to plop face down in the cushions. He wiggled a little to try and sprawl out properly but he was out cold before he could even get his legs properly on the couch.

 

Little snores started to drift through the room. There was a loud creak somewhere in the attic before a rush of cold window down through the flights of stairs. One by one the lamps flickered out in the living room. Once the last bulb had faded, the kitchen light flicked off. Plastic rings rattled as the curtains drew themselves closed over the dully lit streetlamps just outside. Dan’s snore cut off for an impatient groan as he was slowly rolled onto his side, eased further up to lay on the couch normally. He drunkenly grumbled as his shoes were tugged at, eyes glued closed as the laces pulled out of knots and the tongue was moved around until they each slid off by an unseen grip. They hovered in the air before drifting down to tuck themselves under the couch.

 

Dan snuffled as the couch pillow prodded insistently at the top of his head. The Brit raised his head up from the unspoken command and mumbled something in appreciation as he started to curl around it. He blinked dully, pupils blown so wide he couldn’t see anything past the glaze of exhaustion. With the blissful darkness of the living room, he started to drift back to sleep again. Weak fingers massaged his calves and he moaned in relief. _Adam never rubs me anymore._ Another hand fanned over his back and caressed his spine in a long, slow drag.

 

In seconds, he was deep in the sleep that only the drunk knew. Dreamless darkness.

 

The throw blanket on the back of the couch twitched, the corner snagged and tugged on. It crept down in a lazy progression and gradually laid itself around the young man. There was a long, satisfied breath before a drawl let out a whisper.

 

_Rest, sugar._

 

o0o0o0o

 

Dan’s giggles filled the room as the last of their clothes fell away, hands gripping tight at naked flesh as lips slid together again. Adam tipped the boy backwards and fell upon him on top of the bed, mouths pulled into grins. They were only a little drunk but the love was flowing free tonight. A whole week without a single fight or misunderstanding and they were floating on cloud nine.

 

“You are my prettiest little doll,” Adam huffed, one big hand cupping Dan’s smiling face and laying a brief, deep kiss on those cute lips. “Damn, kid, you got me all goofy. You’re more addicting than junk.”

 

Dan giggled happily and palmed over those thick shoulders. “You know how to make a boy’s heart flutter.”

 

The sweet, joyous noises continued as Adam dipped down and started nibbling all along his neck. It was a sensitive area and it was littered with red splotches, tongue darting out to taste warm skin and to make the boy squirm. Dan clung to Adam and tugged at his hair, sighing out a faint moan as stubble burned down across his chest and scrubbed over a dark nipple. He tossed his head back on the pillow and bit his lip to muffle a little squeal. It had been days since he’d been touched and his heart was overflowing, body strung tight and just begging for his lover to pluck it.

 

Shifting a little to arch into Adam’s mouth, Dan noticed the door was open. His smile fell a little as he realized the door was wide open. He distinctly remembered Adam kicking it shut but he could see into the dark hall. He squinted at the faint outline there. It could’ve been a lamp in the room across from theirs, a bookcase, anything really. But there was something more to it. There was a depth, almost a solid outline, like shoulders…

 

“Flip over, baby. Let’s ride.”

 

Dan obeyed and got lost in the stretch, the grind, the cold smear of Vaseline before two of those heavily calloused fingers eased past his hole. He bucked and keened as Adam got him ready, one hand fanned possessively along his lower back as the other worked open that dark rim. Dan was always so tight, clenching down like he wanted to feel everything no matter if it hurt. A little wildcat that only needed a firm hand to submit. Adam knew just how to pin him, how hard to fuck him to get the boy into a moaning, meek little mess. He liked Dan’s fire but he liked controlling it more, bending it to his will.

 

When they slotted together it was with sharp smacks of flesh-on-flesh, messy and animalistic in its simplicity. Adam gave off rough grunts with each thrust, driving into grasping heat with abandon. Dan bounced back into him, the heels of his palms and the points of his knees digging into the mattress. He was panting so sharply his tongue threatened to lull out of mouth like a thirsty pup, cock flushed and hanging heavy between his thighs. He was starved for his love to be buried to the hilt inside him, to carve him out for the pure pleasure of the carnal act. Sweat dripped down the arch of his spin and beaded at their hairlines, hips and cheeks meeting so hard they stung.

 

Welts would be left later.

 

Dan tried to pry his hand up off the bed but every thrust had him rocking forward. He nearly toppled forward on his face when he tried to make a grab at his needy cock. He didn’t want Adam to slow down but he couldn’t get off like this. That hidden spot inside him sent sweet sparks into his belly but he needed more.

 

“Adam, love, pump me?” Dan whined. “Can’t get there only like this.”

 

“You’ll get yours when I’m done,” Adam promised with a huff, patting the boy’s ass like praising a dog. “Just hush and be good for me.”

 

Dan knew it was true. Adam liked to get off first before treating him right. He was used to it, even found it sexy like his love wanted to claim him before giving him some relief, but tonight he was feeling greedy. He bit his lip and hung his head, back bowing in a beautiful line to put his hips right where the other could fuck into him more easily. It felt amazing, it always did. Adam was thick and long in all the right ways and he was damn good at hitting that special spot when he was paying attention and not lost in his own passion. He just wanted to be _touched_.

 

As much as he wanted to wait like a faithful dame, he could barely contain any of the hopeless and hungry moans. Each peak of Adam’s thrusts were driving him mental, so much so that he finally gave a yelp.

 

“Please, dear,” he whined, teeth itching to gnash at the sheets that were under him. “I need it so badly. I can’t handle not being touched like this. Won’t you grace me with just a little bit?”

 

“You’re awfully greedy tonight, you little-” Adam held back his words with a gnarr, fingers pressing in so harsh that Dan could feel the sting of oncoming bruises. “All you do is beg, never let a man have his day without your satisfaction first, do you?”

 

The Brit whimpered, trying to hold back his tongue of more desperate pleas. The sensitivity was nearly unbearable, fingers giving again to try and grab around his own cock, but that earned him a harsh smack on his ass.

 

“ _Wait_.”

 

“Yes, sir,” Dan shamefully answered, bringing his hand back to its original place. He felt his cock beginning to strain against his navel, coating it with a small bead of arousal. It was amazing in some of the worse ways, not able to have that friction to satisfy his aching cock. But, he waited and clung to the sheets for support as the latter’s thrusts grew more harsh and violent.

 

“You’re so undeserving sometimes,” Adam stated with a rigid chuckle. “You’re thankful that I’m forgiving, impatient thing.”

 

Dan let out a soft, surprised yelp when sudden tightness hugged around his cock. Adam’s fist was a little cool but it was kind of wet like it had been licked. “Thank you, love, God yes that’s nice.” The tight fist striped his cock with fervor. A grin split his face and he started bouncing back more eagerly. “Yes, love, just like that. You’re too good to me. T-that’s what I need and you’re giving it to me so nicely.”

 

Dan’s voice was rather deep and his moans came out in hitches, slowly rising in pitch the longer that liquid heat boiled up in his gut. Adam was relentless on his cock, squeezing and thumbing at the tip and twisting to give him some good friction. He couldn’t feel those hard earned calluses but it must have been a bit of Vaseline or something. In the heat of the moment, he didn’t care.

 

In the heat of the moment, he didn’t count the hands on his body.

 

“Adam!” Dan cried out in bliss, eyes falling shut and mouth dropping open in an ecstatic shout. His cock was released but it didn’t matter, he didn’t need it. He spilled thick and heavy on the sheets, days of pent up release giving him nothing but pure pleasure. The fists balled up tight in his fists and he chewed his lip as he let out a satisfied squeak, back hunching up. “Oh you are the sweetest, the most…”

 

Dan widened his thighs and got down on his elbows to open himself up further. “I love you. _Use me_.”

 

Adam didn’t mind that Dan came first, and he gladly took the opportunity to rut happy like a pig in mud, but he wondered how his lover got off so quick without him touching him. But he didn’t care, long as they were both satisfied at the end.

 

o0o

 

Ryan watched the couple leave the house from the attic window, unnoticed and uncared for. He scowled at the way Adam brushed off the sweet Lad’s small arm touch. _Coward_.

  
He grew stronger every day, and soaking up Dan’s warmth as he spilled the night before had given him a new surge of energy that he was going to put forth into his plan to get the sweet boy all to himself. Dan with his beautiful smile and lilting laugh, the bubbly personality of a flapper wrapped into a puppyish eagerness. Dan was the cutest fool to ever love, and he wanted it for his own.

  
Ryan decided it was time he started flooding Adam with stronger images of gorgeous gals and the freedom offered away from this live-in, forbidden tryst. He would drive that man away no matter if he had to drain himself and every appliance in the house.

_  
That boy is mine._

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dan's life starts to shatter and the cracks are minuscule but they run deep. It's the beginning of the end in so many ways.

**Well, this is my tiny contribution to Halloween. I didn't enjoy the holiday like I would've liked to - and I didn't get anything out like I promised. But I'll be writing spooky/scary/suspenseful stuff until Christmas starts creeping up on us. Well, maybe. You guys know me - I'm a slave to the muses.**

 

* * *

  
  


Dan sighed at the sight of their bedroom, shaking his head. Adam had made a cluttered mess getting ready to go to the club for a gig and Dan had taken a late shift at the diner. By the time they’d both gotten home, they’d merely stripped down and fallen face first into the covers. Now his lover had gone to “go over the books” and had left more of a mess from this morning’s struggle of looking presentable. 

  
  


He padded through the bedroom and snatched up all the clothes off the floor, piling them over the crook of his arm. He hummed a particularly catchy trumpet line and snatched up Adam’s handsome dress shirt and vest, smiling as he remembered how good his lover had looked in them before leaving the house.

  
  


Before he could bundle them up in his arms, Dan gave them a small sniff. He smiled at the smell of the club mixed with his boyfriend - whiskey, smoke, oil from the instruments, perfume, and that expensive leathery cologne. 

  
  


Dan frowned a little. He hesitantly sniffed down past the collar and his stomach dropped. There was a pretty, flowery perfume more thickly rubbed along the length of the shirt. He he could smell it along the arms and all over the collar too. 

  
  


He pushed all those feelings down and hurried about his business, ignoring the implications. 

  
  


o0o0o0o

  
  


Dan groaned in dismay as his hair was grabbed and he was pinned to the sheets, cheek rasping against them. Adam was being deliciously rough but sometimes he felt like a damn dog with the way he was rutted into. Ass practically on display, he was fucked like he was nothing more than a hole. That was all Adam seemed to want lately - something to use, especially when he was drunk like this. Dan didn’t mind getting himself off but he missed the intimate touches and kisses, the slow burn.

  
  


Adam’s hand slapped down on his shoulder and he yelped, startled. His boyfriend gave a throaty laugh, digging in his fingers to his skin and dragging him back onto his cock to make each thrust just that much deeper. Dan gave a hiss a the sting of nails biting into him but he went with it, adjusting. He made a grab for his own hard cock when Adam let out a sudden, rough scream. Dan cried out as he was ripped away from, scrambling to keep himself upright as his hole throbbed, body aching in protest. 

  
  


Adam got off the bed and stumbled back, hissing through his teeth and groping over his shoulder. He staggered toward the mirror and gaped dumbly at blood scratches raked over his shoulder blade. Deep enough to have fat ruby droplets welling up and staining paths down his back. Four ragged lines and one fainter one - a perfect claw. 

  
  


“What is wrong with you?” Adam barked, a slur teasing his words. He whipped around and glared at his boyfriend. Dan was sitting up and staring at him in disbelief, eyes glistening with the sheet clutched up around his bite bruised chest. “Why? What the hell did I do, you little shit?”

  
  


“I-I didn’t...Adam, darling, I w-was on my front, I couldn’t…” Dan stuttered nervously. “I can’t reach.”

  
  


Adam stomped over and Dan hardly had time to move or protest before he was soundly backhanded. His head whipped to the side and he stared blankly at the wall. It was a solid, fleshy thump and the sound echoed through the quiet room. He registered the sound before the pain. It hadn’t hurt too much, more a sting than anything, a shock. 

  
  


“Don’t you _ever_ fucking attack me like that again. God, what are you, a little animal?” Adam barked. “Did I pull you out of the woods? Clawing me like a damn dog.” He scowled heavily, though Dan’s eyes were still stuck on the far wall in surprise. “You’re lucky I don’t whoop you like one.”

  
  


Adam slept on the couch that night but it was hours later before Dan fell into a restless sleep.

  
  


o0o0o0o

  
  


Dan knew that Adam preferred him to not to go to the club, giving the excuse that the atmosphere was no place for a sweet boy like him. But it had been weeks of that tantalizing perfume and he found himself obsessing about what the woman looked like. The band was made up of the friends he’d gained with Adam and they let him hide in the curtains of the side stage. His gaze was stolen by the handsome couple leaning against the far wall but every time the band glanced over at him, it was in pure pity for the heartbroken young lad.

  
  


Dan’s hand fisted in the curtain while the other shook at his side. Adam was so handsome amidst the smoke and and colored streaked lighting. But there was a pure, polished diamond with her back against the wall and happily trapped in by one of the man’s arms. She was one of the most gorgeous women he’d ever seen. Short, crimped, golden hair with lips like plump cherries and cheeks a youthful pink. Her eyes were great crystal pools to fall into. Dan swooned at how beautiful she was, how elegantly she held herself. That short sequin dress and the feathers in her hair, the sparkling jewelry - she was the picturesque proper lady. A woman who would look right at any party but never loose, always flirty and fun but someone you could bring home to your mother. A perfect jewel, and in comparison he was a toad.

  
  


His heart shattered and collapsed into his bottomed-out stomach. He leaned heavily against the curtain and felt it strain against his knuckles. 

  
  


_ How can I compete with that? _

  
  


o0o

  
  


When Dan got home he went straight to their bedroom and changed into some old, worn clothes that were frayed at the edges and speckled with his paint. He went back downstairs and dug into the cupboard under the stairs, coming out with a bucket full of cleaning surprise, a mop, and a broom. He set it all up at the doorway and moved all the stools and chairs up out of the way. He filled the bucket from the sink and got the scrubs, dunking them into the steaming suds. He started at the far side of the room and got on his hands and knees, plucking out a sopping brush and starting to _scrub_.

  
  


Dan made no sound until he was almost halfway done an hour later, shoulders shaking as he sniveled. He swiped lukewarm suds across tile and kept his head low, swiping the dirt away with each rub. Tears slipped down his cheeks but his lips were curled into an almost startling smile. All he could think about was how much he wanted Adam to have fun, to love, to enjoy life, and how much he couldn’t deny him that. He loved Adam too much to keep him from real happiness. 

  
  


Having a nice, clean home to come back to was part of that. 

  
  


_ I’ll go grocery shopping too. I’ll make a list.  _ Dan smiled even wider, pleased with himself.  _ Lettuce, deli meat from the butcher, some eggs, tomatoes, orange mix... _

  
  


By the time the floor was clean, Dan had to drag himself to his feet by a white-knuckled grip on the counter from how wrecked his legs felt. he was starting to pack up when he realized his knees had been bleeding for quite some time and he’d left scarlet smudges behind. 

  
  


Sighing in frustration, he refilled the bucket.

  
  


o0o

  
  


Dan didn’t hear the door open and close downstairs, too wrapped up in tending to his knees and the bleach tinged rub-wounds on them. His hisses of pain covered up the sound of someone coming up the steps. He was placing the bandage on one (the other still needing cleaned) when Adam passed by the open bathroom door, pausing. He had his jacket off and over his shoulder, shoes long gone. A tie hung limp around his neck and the first few buttons of his shirt were open to expose a nice slice of chest. He took one look at the Brit and frowned.

  
  


“What happened?” Adam grunted out, the faintest hint of a slur on his voice. The ruddy cheeks gave away all the liquor he’d shot down that night but Dan didn’t care.

  
  


“Nothing!” Dan promised, bright and cheery as anything. “How was your day?”

  
  


Adam’s brow creased but he didn’t seem inclined to push. “Fine.”

  
  


“What do you want for dinner tomorrow?” Dan asked, trying and failing to stand up on his exhausted legs. “I have an early shift at the diner so I can have something on the table when you get home. I was thinking about maybe…”

  
  


Dan trailed off as his lover walked away, coat falling carelessly to the carpet where he’d been standing. He slumped in defeat for a few moments before making himself get up to go pick up the jacket before it crinkled too badly. He’d hardly held it for a few moments before he got hit with a wave of flowery perfume. He put his nose to the fabric and inhaled with a wistful sigh. _He’s so lucky to have such gorgeous dame on his arm. I hope…_

  
  


He swallowed thickly as he limped back into the bathroom and took a hanger off the doorknob to slip the jacket onto it. _I hope they had fun. Bet she’s a real ringer in bed. I hope he treated her right._

  
  


He hung it up on the back of the door before plopping back down on the toilet seat, grabbing the cotton and medicine again to clean up his other leg. It wouldn’t do anyone any good if he got dried blood all over the clean sheets. 

  
  


o0o0o0o

  
  


Dan had the whole night planned and he was sure nothing could go wrong.

  
  


When Adam came home from the club he wreaked of that diamond’s perfume but he’d expected that. When his lover stated he was going back out with the boys, he expected that too.

  
  


“Stay,” Dan had purred as he’d sat the man at the edge of their bed. “I have a surprise for you.” 

  
  


Adam had been intrigued enough to agree and the Brit had raced to the bathroom to get all ready for him. It was a little rushed but he was very careful with all the straps and hooks, gently easing the delicate material over his body. He’d shaved his stomach, chest, and under his arms for this as well as ran some clippers over his legs. He double checked the mirror to make sure there wasn’t even a hint of beard on his cheeks or jaw before stepping out.

  
  


Dan leaned against the open doorway and and slowly pulled back his shawl to expose the special outfit he’d bought just for this night. The wrap was a light emerald that felt exquisite against his skin and he loved it by itself so much that he’d purchased the lingerie that matched, though he was unsure about his coloring complimenting it. He’d slipped on a short, white teddy that fluttered invitingly so high on his thighs and clung tight to his flat chest. It was silk and cinched so well against him with green accents and a dark bow that sat in the middle of his pecs. His stockings were a tasty mint green that followed the long line of his legs and caught in garters that were a darker shade. 

  
  


Seeing Adam’s dumbstruck look, Dan felt suddenly so beautiful. He took a few steps into the room and let the shawl drop further down to pool at his elbows, hips cocking out to flash a hint of the dark, high-waisted panties he’d bought. He peered at his lower from beneath a fan of dark lashes and felt breathless with excitement at the wide-eyed stare there. “Do you like what you see, love?”

  
  


“Is that what you spend my money on?” Adam snapped hotly, face flushing as he got to his feet. The sudden movement startled Dan and he recoiled, covering himself back with with the shawl. He wanted to run from the room but the thought of being chased was just as terrifying. 

  
  


“I-I wanted to look nice for you, i-is all,” Dan stuttered out pathetically. “A surprise, I guess?” I thought he’d love it. I’m all dolled up like her. Should I have put on makeup too? 

  
  


“Do you know who dresses like this?” Adam spat in disgust. “Limp-wristed fairies, that’s who. _Freaks_. You think you’re some sort of lady or something?” His lip drew back in a snarl. “I can’t even look at you. I thought I was shacking up with a _man_ but I was real wrong, wasn’t I?”

  
  


Adam tried to stride past him but Dan panicked, throwing himself at the man and fisting his hand in his shirt. He was almost shaken off but held fast. His chest felt like it was going to cave in and his heart was cracking, threatening to cut him. He’d never felt more humiliated in his life but his craving for the musician's love was stronger than what pride he had left.

  
  


“Don’t go back to her tonight, please,” Dan begged. A heavy hand landed on his throat just long enough to throw him into the wall, plaster smacking into the just of his shoulders and making them sting. He blinked dully at Adam to clear the shock but all he saw was an ugly scowl. 

  
  


“Imported little slut,” Adam growled, feeling rage like he never had before. Something inside him was begging him to hurt Dan but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. The Brit looked so defeated and needy slumped against the wall and he felt that to hurt him more would be like crushing a small bird between his palms. _Too easy_. There was just a moment where he paused in the doorway and thought _I love him, why am I acting like this? He’s just trying to do something special for us._

  
  


Dan pushed off the wall and pressed into his side, curling both arms around one of his own. “Just stay one night with me, Adam, _one_ night. Don’t walk away from me right now, I _need_ you. I’m so sick laying up waiting for you to come home. I’m so worried that you won’t.” He sniffed back a bout of tears but his words spewed out in a gross mess. “A-At least tell me you’ll be back? I don’t care if you mean it, just say it out loud so I can cling to something.”

  
  


Adam seized one of his wrists and twisted it hard to make him hiss and draw back, arm straining as he tried to relieve the pressure. Those amber eyes were stained more darkly than he’d ever seen them and it made Dan tremble pathetically in his grip. “Adam…?”

  
  


“Maybe you should _stop_ waiting up.” 

  
  


Tears stuck to dark lashes before they felt in stilted streams. The man’s cold drawl thickened his very blood, every pump of his heart a heavy strain between his lungs. He vividly recalled every hour he’d spent waiting up for Adam, all the cold dinners, the ban from the club, even the lack of intimacy. He’d waited because it was all he could do, it was the only thing he lived for - waiting on Adam to love him.  

  
  


Adam felt a rush of bile at the pathetic sight and with one, quick jolt he backhanded Dan and sent him reeling. The Brit knocked his shoulder into the wall again and this time he stayed, fingers clinging dully to the wallpaper. He couldn’t even bare to lift his head as the other left, heavy steps thudding out of the house. The sound of the door slamming felt like it shattered something inside him, the last straw breaking.  

  
  


Dan started clawing at his clothes, throwing off the shawl and yanking the teddy up over his head and catching the straps so badly ons his arms that he torn them. He stumbled backward until he hit the bed, tugging at the panties he’d so lovingly slid up his legs until the elastic broke and they fell limp to the carpet around his feet. He dug his fingers into his stockings, fumbling to get them off, nails raking runs into them. They were ruined.

  
  


_I’m such an idiot. He’s right. Nothing but a desperate whore._ He scrubbed his hands over his face and let out a dry sob, trying so hard not to cry but failing. He choked and dropped his hands only to see himself in the mirror. He was a pale creature with fine muscle, broad shoulders, a strong jaw. Distinctively _not_ pretty in any way. He was so painfully male. _I can’t keep up. I’m not enough. That woman at the club was a pure angel and I am so purely plain. If he didn’t like this, I don’t know what else to do._

  
  


Dan went to the dresser and poured a snifter of Adan’s good scotch. He downed it with a heavy scowl before filling it up again, splashing the dark liquid. He took it over to the bed and sat on the edge, staring dully at the wall. Slowly he started to slide on the covers and down the side, sliding down to the floor with a graceless thump. A sour, dejected feeling bled through him and his breaths came in shaky exhales. He cradled the drink between his palms. 

  
  


“What…” Dan started slowly, chest tight. “What am I going to do now?”

  
  


He couldn’t go back home. He’d told his family he was going to the states and they’d called him an idiot for leaving his good job and his familial home. Most were unaware of his preferences but those that did or suspected had rejected him outright. He tried to explain that he could still take a wife but they said he’d made his decision, moving in with a man in lust. He didn’t want to prove them right. He didn’t want to be a failure. 

  
  


It was a deep, hopeless feeling and he felt like he was drowning. Sipping scotch alleviated that feeling only for moments before it crashed back into him. He still loved Adam, utterly and absolutely, he could feel it in his heart and down into his very soul.

  
  


“I wish I made him happier,” he husked out with a disgusted scowl. He sniffled and took another heavy sip, face going slack. He tipped head back and let his eyes fall closed. “Please let her make him happy…”

  
  


He polished off the drink and unsteadily got to his feet. He went back to the dresser and poured himself a last glass. He sighed and turned to see his shawl like a fallen snake. He picked it up and smoothed it over his shoulder, sighing much more pleasantly and even smiling as the silk slid over his skin. It was designed to look like delicate wings fanning over his shoulder and down his arms. Smooth and perfect, shamefully expensive. He caught a glimpse of himself and quickly tore his eyes away so he didn’t spoil his one flicker of happiness for the evening. He knew what he must look like, some sort of pathetic floozy. 

  
  


Dan’s fingers were clumsy from the booze but he managed to to take out one of the many records on the shelf and put it on the record player. It was a gilded, antique-esque thing and he loved it. Annette Hanshaw’s throaty voice drifted into the room and wrapped him up like a lover’s embrace. He drifted back to the bed with his full drink and propped himself up on the pillows. 

  
  


_'The song is ended, but the melody lingers on. You and the song are gone, but the melody lingers on…’_

  
  


Dan sipped the scotch and let his lazy gaze roam the room that he’d helped so lovingly decorate. Tasteful lounge furniture, music themed art, and the bookshelf he’d aided in filling up with sheet music and the Western paperbacks Adam loved to read before bed. This was his home. He just wished he had a man to put in it, someone who wanted to be here. Getting a taste of it had been cruel.

  
  


He looked down at his bare hand. He longed for a ring or something to look at, something physical to remind him that they were in love once. He took another sip and his head go all fuzzy. _There are worse things than being a stay at home wife._

  
  


And the music played.

  
  


o0o

  
  


Hours later, when the sky was starting to turn blue with the promise of morning, the house grew cold. Dan was sleeping deep thanks to the scotch. He had the shawl wrapped around him like a blanket and had brought all the pillows around him in a sort of nest, curled around one to pretend he wasn’t so alone. The record was skipping and his glass had long rolled out of his hand and to the carpet. 

  
  


The lamps in the room flickered once, twice, and then the bulbs popped from being overloaded. Dan flinched but didn’t wake. The needle arm of the record player suddenly picked up and moved off to the side, the power switch getting flipped to silence it. The Brit sighed softly, hair getting brushed through before he was rolled onto his back. Again he didn’t wake, just shifted and got more comfortable, legs sprawling. The ends of the shawl were slowly picked up by unseen hands and peeled away to reveal the bare body beneath. 

  
  


Dan sighed again as the skin around his chest dimpled. Though he could not perceive it, something was touching him. Dark nipples grew hard as they were moved, teased at until they grew warm and rosy. Dan’s legs drew up, feet skidding against the sheets, dark brows furrowing up. His lips parted under an unseen kiss and a loud breath. It was consuming, possessive, tongue coaxed into a slow glide that looked filthy. 

  
  


But there was no one to look upon the debauched scene other than an invisible, ghostly gaze of a hungry specter. 

  
  


Dan shuddered as something wet and cold between his legs, slipping past his cheeks and brushing against his hole. He shifted noisily on the sheets as his rim started to give, spreading under insistent, unseen fingers. Dan moaned softly into the room as his hips twitched up against the pressure. The flesh along his stomach dimpled in five distinct points before dragging down, soft cock being rubbed in a firm grip until it plumped up. It was a strange sight - a lover’s movements without a paramour to perform them. His hips were taken and raised up, thighs parted with an aching slowness, knees pushed apart and up to expose. There was a low, growling noise before Dan’s hole was stretched wider, cock flushing a dark red as his body started to strain against his unseen visitor. 

  
  


The Brit made a high pitched noise as his hole, slick with something clear and shining that didn’t look quite natural, started to really stretch and give under something thick. He was rocked gently as something slowly slid into him in insistent little thrusts that made him grow hot. His hole gaped obscenely around seemingly nothing but, even asleep, he could feel what felt like a thick cock rut into him. 

  
  


His own moans roused him. His eyes opened but just barely, bleary and so tired. The scotch was still laced thick with his blood and the world was fuzzy. He could barely see the room but he knew he was _full_. Hazy and confused, Dan pawed weakly at the sheets. It burned in a way that made him squirm and the pleasurable ache in his gut had him breaking out into goosebumps.

  
  


Dan keened on a deep thrust, hair rasping against the pillow. “Adam, love.”

  
  


His head whipped to the side and his skin yielded under a sudden, sharp bite. He tried to look around but he couldn’t see anyone, eyes watering up from the intensity. “A-Adam?”

  
  


Dan choked as he was fucked up into hard, hole stinging at the quick stretch. He tried to reach up and paw at whoever was ravishing him but he was pinned down.  He was  _ helpless  _ in the very best way. Again and again, the movements continued, each thrust peaking up towards his pleasure spot that -  _ oh  _ \- sent sparks down his spine and straight to his cock. He hadn’t felt like this in a  _ while  _ and perhaps this was all a dream despite how much Dan didn’t want it to be.

  
  


Dan was flipped onto his stomach with one, sudden motion and he could barely get onto his elbows and knees before he was taken again.

  
  


Each moan he gave, the unseen being behind him would only groan in happiness and pleasure; the only kind of satisfied rumble that Dan would hear way back when Adam and him would have those breathless and warm nights together in the bed. 

  
  


_ Touch me _ , Dan begged soundlessly to the being behind him, his teeth grit and his eyes completely closed. There was an inner conflict in his heart. He was begging for it to be a dream yet not a dream. He knew deeply that if it were truly Adam behind him, it would be nothing like this, especially with the way Dan could feel the thick, gentle span of hands placing themselves on his frame. Movements that felt like fingers grazing the buds of his nips made the young male nearly trill out a praise as he tossed his head back. 

  
  


“Y-yes! Just like that, darling,” he huffed, feeling the strain of his throat as he continued to have his head bowed back tightly. He could feel just how roused he was with the way his cock leaked with a nice, round bead of precum and he swore that it won’t be long. “I-it’s been so long --”

  
  


And then he heard it. It was a voice as low as thunder but as clear as day rolling against his eardrums. It also sounded rough, completely taken with need and greed in the thick of the hunger. The words sounded like a song serenading him with  _ love _ and adoration.

  
  


_ You were gorgeous last night. The most beautiful jewel I’ve ever set my eyes upon. I could just ravish you until you begged for me to stop ripping at your frilly stockings and sinful panties. _

  
  


Dan gasped with a furious blush coating his cheeks and he bit his lip against a smile. He couldn’t believe that he was actually called  _ beautiful _ and he clung to the words like a possessive kitten with its toy. He wanted to thank the being; he wanted to thank him for giving him the attention he craved and the pleasure that he has been longing for a while. He knew the voice did not belong to his Adam but he honestly didn’t care for the moment. He was elated, head finally bending forward and resting on the mattress below them, hands trying to snake under him to tug on his cock, but a force smacked his hand away. 

  
  


He was confused but not for long. He mewled highly when he could feel a hand curl around his cock and give it decent strokes that were gentle but gave that perfect push. The being giving him such treatment was  _ perfect _ and Dan gave shameless noises into the air, gripping onto the sheets tightly. 

  
  


“ P-please! Don’t stop!” Dan yelped, beginning to lose his breath and he panted just to keep up. He tried to rock his hips back, letting the being grab onto his ass with one hand and rut even deeper. The air was heavy with musk and Dan’s breath was hot and sticky and there was a layer of sweat that formed on his brow and making his hair slightly damp. He  _ loved _ this and he was hoping that it would never end, but it was the slightest move that made him lose it. There was a press of what felt like a sweet kiss on the back of his head and he  _ melted _ . 

  
  


His voice was strangled when he came, lips forming into a luscious and soft “O” as spurts of cream landing on the bed. He felt his veins swell - the needed release of pleasure that was held in for so long. He bounced his hips, fucking into the ring of the being’s hand as he squeezed around his cock. His teeth finally began to gnash against themselves and he gave a low, animalistic groan as he fell limp against the being, ass still in the air and allowing himself to be used.

  
  


The movements behind him continued, this time with the speed of the spectral trying to achieve his own orgasm. Dan could only afford to clench his hole around the mystery man to give back what he gave and he felt proud when he heard a noise of gratitude. Both hands were on his hips now, being used as leverage when the being began to pound into him harder and harder until Dan mewled softly when he felt the hardness build up inside of him.

  
  


Instantly after, the younger man felt  _ hot _ engulf his body, acting like a soothing aid to help him relax. The thrusts slowed to a stop and Dan could barely even open his eyes. He was exhausted in the best ways, lips growing slack as the alcohol suddenly began to settle back into his blood when the euphoria and adrenaline were all gone. 

  
  


He wanted to tell the mystery man a small “thank you”, but before he could even think twice about it, he was already asleep. 

  
  


o0o

  
  


Dan awoke in slow waves, sighing and shifting on the sheets as he came back to himself. The scotch lingered on him like a thick cloud but he eased through it, dark lashes parting to reveal confused, dark eyes. He slowly sat up and rubbed the back of his hand over his eyes, frowning thoughtfully as he cast a tired gaze around the room. A silent record player, a fallen glass, parted curtains, and the shredded remains of his “surprise”.

  
  


He laughed but it faded into a faint, agonized groan. _Of course no one’s here. No one could treat me so perfectly, not since Adam stopped touching me. How desperate I am to imagine a lover like that. If only I was so lucky._

  
  
  


 


End file.
